Slicker Nicholls fights to strike a chord

Tim Nicholls must overcome significant obstacles as he tries to convince Queensland voters to forgive and forget his time as treasurer in the unpopular Newman government.

In parliament, the Liberal National Party leader has prosecuted arguments effectively, drawing on his experience as a solicitor at one of Brisbane's top-tier corporate law firms.

But beyond George Street, the 52-year-old has struggled to appeal to battlers in the bush who will hold the key to battlegrounds in the state's north.

Mr Nicholls is conscious of the way he is perceived. He's a wealthy, well-educated city slicker in a vastly decentralised state who is going up against a likeable Labor premier in Annastacia Palaszczuk.

He also must shift his reputation as the budget bad cop who slashed 14,000 public service jobs and proposed to sell off the state's energy assets as treasurer under Campbell Newman who was resoundingly ousted at the 2015 election.

"It takes a lot more grit and determination, it takes a lot more character to deal with the setbacks and to still believe in what you believe in than most people think," the LNP leader told AAP.

In preparation for a gruelling election campaign that unofficially kicked off months ago, the father-of-three has turned to his loved ones for inspiration.

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His grandfather, Dmitri Zemancheff, was evacuated from Bulgaria along with his family in the face of an advancing German army in World War I, first settling in Perth, and later Melbourne.

"It's shaped me up to have a belief in self-reliance and a belief that the future is what you can make it," he said.

"It's also (the foundation) of my views about how you succeed, and that is it's about perseverance, determination, having a goal and working to that goal despite setbacks."

Born in Melbourne, he moved to the affluent, inner-Brisbane suburb of Ascot with his parents and two sisters as a 12-year-old, studying at Churchie, one of the most prestigious boys schools in the state.

His ascension from new kid on the block to Queensland opposition leader has been one of calculated strategy.

The former Brisbane councillor and longtime Liberal member failed in his first punt for the party leadership in 2007, but was appointed shadow treasurer after it merged with the Nationals the following year.

In the wake of the rise and sensational fall of Newman's single-term government, Mr Nicholls pushed Lawrence Springborg from the top job in May 2016 - just 16 months after the LNP lost power.

Mr Nicholls has been praised for his collaborative approach in the party room, but there are also concerns he has struggled to engage voters and shrug off the ghosts of his treasury portfolio.

He has failed to get close to the popularity levels Ms Palaszczuk commands in opinion polls but his party enters the election campaign on near equal footing with Labor.

"As leader the responsibility rests with you," he admits.

"There's no shortage of people who want to offer you advice and assistance, but ultimately it's your decision and so that's the weight of responsibility that I feel."

Now within reach of the premiership, Mr Nicholls must face up to his past and persuade Queenslanders to grant his return from the political wilderness.